Hector Camacho’s Family Still Struggling With Life Support Decision

The family of Hector Camacho, better known as Hector “Macho” Camacho, is reportedly torn over whether to remove the athlete from life support despite an opinion from the boxer’s doctor that Camacho will not regain consciousness.

Hector Camacho, 50, was shot in the face outside a bar in Puerto Rico on November 20, in an attack that killed the boxer’s driver. And while it was initially believed that the athlete would pull through and recover, hope dimmed yesterday when Dr. Ernesto Torres told press that Camacho had been declared brain dead and was unlikely to survive.

Torres said:

“We have done everything we could. We have to tell the people of Puerto Rico and the entire world that Macho Camacho has died, he is brain dead.”

Previously, Torres had commented more optimistically about Camacho’s recovery chances, saying:

“We can’t declare him brain dead … We’re going to ask the people of Puerto Rico to keep praying.”

Hector Camacho’s condition was negatively impacted by a cardiac arrest he suffered just after the shooting, and conflicting reports have emerged about the decision by family to hang on a bit longer versus the one to remove life support for the famed boxer.

Longtime friend of Camacho and fellow former boxer Victor “Luvi” Callejas explained to reporters that hope for a miracle was helping the family cope with the situation on whether to continue on with life support:

“It is a very difficult decision, a very delicate decision … The last thing we lose is hope and faith. If there is still hope and faith, why not wait a little more?”

Other reports indicate Hector Camacho’s family decided to remove the boxer from life support and have begun planning his funeral.